By Niyanta Singh
Asgar Sathar is a bitter man. Despite his spending R2.5-million on legal fees his son Shuaib has been to jail for 20 years for murdering his cousin Safia Asmal.
In a complicated family drama, Asmal's brother Mohamed Azeem Yunus is on the run after failing to attend court for sentencing in a separate case involving his attempt to kill Sathar's mother.
For five years the Sathar family in Estcourt lived with the hope that their son Shuaib would walk away from court a free man. It was not to be.
This week, after attending court more than 100 times and spending millions in legal fees, their hopes were dashed when he was sentenced to 20 years in prison for murdering Asmal.
On Friday Sathar snr vowed to take his son's case to appeal.
"We still firmly believe in our son's innocence. We will continue fighting until we feel justice has been served. Several things were overlooked.
"Nothing will stop us from fighting for our son. Not even their (the Asmals) son escaping on bail after being found guilty of murder," Sathar said.
Asmal's murder led to a bitter feud between the two families.
Last month Asmal's brother Yunus was found guilty of attempted murder in connection with an incident in which he shot at Sathar's mother, Sarah, and her minor daughter. He was also found guilty of murdering Estcourt man Vinod Ramsarup, the driver of the bakkie taking Sarah and the child to prison in Pietermaritzburg to visit Shuaib in November 2007.
Yunus, who was to be sentenced last week, has since skipped his R20 000 bail and is on the run.
Sathar questioned the lack of interest in Yunus's escape
"Why have police not circulated a picture of him? He is a murderer, a fugitive, who has escaped justice."
Police confirmed they were investigating Yunus's escape but had no leads as to his whereabouts.
In sentencing Shuaib Sathar, Judge Atkins Moleko described the brutality of the killing as "inhuman".
He said the murder had been premeditated, as shown by the extreme brutality of the injuries Asmal suffered. These included a slit throat, multiple stab wounds and severe head injuries, including a fractured skull.
Judge Moleko said on the morning of the murder Sathar jnr and his mother had an argument after she stopped him visiting a friend. He then tore up his learner's licence and ID and left the house with some spare clothing.
The judge accepted Sathar's pointing out the sofa where he and Asmal had sat when they began to argue and from where he picked up a dumbbell with which to hit her.
Judge Moleko also accepted the pointing out where Asmal fell and from where Sathar jnr picked up a knife and used it to slit her throat.
The judge said it was aggravating that Asmal was murdered in her own home. There was no evidence of forced entry and Asmal must have allowed him in. He had abused her trust.
Deena Himathram, the mother-in-law of Ramsarup, also expressed concern over Yunus's disappearance. She said: "We have lost hope in the justice system. We were looking forward to closure in this matter after sentencing so that we could move on with our lives. The police and the justice system must take a tougher stance trying to bring Yunus to book."